K-12 Schools & COVID

[Skatastrophy]

Is free child care really the value you see with in classroom teaching?  You think teachers are nothing more then babysitters?

I think you post the dumbest stuff on this forum. And rocket posts here.

[pacearrow02]

I think you post the dumbest stuff on this forum. And rocket posts here.

You’re the one who said parents view teachers as free baby sitters which of all the stupid sh*t said on scoop is by far and away the stupidest. 

[jesmu84]

Is free child care really the value you see with in classroom teaching?  You think teachers are nothing more then babysitters?

I think there are a crap-ton of parents/families that absolutely believe it's a convenient/free daycare

[MU82]

From the Charlotte Observer:

Nearly all of North Carolina’s school districts are now requiring face masks to be worn because of soaring COVID numbers that are causing some schools and entire districts to switch temporarily to online classes.

At the beginning of August, the majority of the state’s 115 school districts had planned to open the school year not requiring face masks. But a month later, only a handful of school districts are not requiring masks. Dozens of districts reversed their plans to go mask optional.

“As of this morning, we are up to 106 of the 115 school districts have moved to masking requirements, and that covers about 94% of our children in our public school system,” Dr. Betsey Tilson, the state health director, said at Thursday’s State Board of Education meeting.

[pacearrow02]

I think there are a crap-ton of parents/families that absolutely believe it's a convenient/free daycare

I think that’s you projecting your view of teachers.  If I remember correctly you don’t have kids right?

I don’t know a single parent who shares that opinion.

[jesmu84]

I think that’s you projecting your view of teachers.  If I remember correctly you don’t have kids right?

I don’t know a single parent who shares that opinion.

I don't have kids.

I do have multiple family members who are teachers.

[pacearrow02]

I don't have kids.

I do have multiple family members who are teachers.

Which is probably one of the many reasons why I don’t imagine you view teachers as babysitters.  Like 99% of most everyone.

[jesmu84]

Which is probably one of the many reasons why I don’t imagine you view teachers as babysitters.  Like 99% of most everyone.

Your posts are all over the board tonight coming from all sides of the same topic.

Take the rest of the night off

[pacearrow02]

Your posts are all over the board tonight coming from all sides of the same topic.

Take the rest of the night off

How so?  My kid won’t fall asleep, as soon as he does I promise you won’t hear from me again till bed time tomorrow!

[jesmu84]

How so?  My kid won’t fall asleep, as soon as he does I promise you won’t hear from me again till bed time tomorrow!

I think a lot of folks view teachers as basically free daycare, because that's what my family members have told me. Because that's, more or less, what families have told them.

[mu_hilltopper]

I think you post the dumbest stuff on this forum. And rocket posts here.

And post of the week goes to ...

[SERocks]

^^^This.

[pbiflyer]

15 Miami-Dade Public School Staff Members Die Of COVID In Just 10 Days

“Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has dismissed the importance of COVID-19 vaccinations and signed an executive order banning mask mandates at schools, issued no comment on the astounding death rate in the county schools system.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/15-miami-dade-public-school-021517732.html

[MU82]

15 Miami-Dade Public School Staff Members Die Of COVID In Just 10 Days

“Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has dismissed the importance of COVID-19 vaccinations and signed an executive order banning mask mandates at schools, issued no comment on the astounding death rate in the county schools system.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/15-miami-dade-public-school-021517732.html

"Floridians needlessly dropping dead at an alarming rate on my watch in part due to my policies? No comment! DeSantis 2024!"

[tower912]

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/nearly-252-000-children-us-012011555.html


This will be fun as it works its way north.   

[Hards Alumni]

I think a lot of folks view teachers as basically free daycare, because that's what my family members have told me. Because that's, more or less, what families have told them.

Same, and I have a family full of educators.

[Pakuni]

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest school district, will require coronavirus vaccine for students 12 and up.

[MU82]

A K-9 charter school close to where I live, and whose basketball team I used to coach against, just told their teachers and staff to either get vaccinated or hit the bricks. Believed to be the first in the Charlotte area to have such a mandate. Good for them!

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article254240338.html?

Board members of Socrates Academy, a school that serves students in grades K-9, said they took careful consideration of the implications the decision could have on faculty, staff and students. Even without the mandate, school officials report that most of the teachers at Socrates are already vaccinated.

The board also met Monday to discuss the mandate after listening to pleas from teachers for the board to reconsider. Board members again voted unanimously for the mandate.

“From the beginning, we have taken a position that we need to follow science,” board President Larry Peroulas said in a statement provided to the Observer. “There is clear evidence showing that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and, combined with other safety measures such as masking, are the most powerful measures we have against the pandemic.

“We agree with national teacher groups that such measures are appropriate, responsible, and necessary to ensure the safety of our school community and to protect our students.”

In a letter to parents, the academy said it already requires masking of faculty, staff, and students and has implemented extensive mitigation strategies to prevent the spread of the virus, including scheduling vaccine clinics for staff and students and offering weekly COVID-19 testing for employees and students who have opted in.

Janice Soucey, the development and communications facilitator for the school, told the Observer that effective Nov. 25, complete COVID-19 vaccination is a condition of employment at Socrates, absent medical or religious exemptions that can be submitted at least 30 days prior to Nov. 25.

“Personnel who do not intend to comply with the complete COVID-19 vaccination must give notice by Oct. 22,” Soucey said.

[mu_hilltopper]

I think schools are in for a world of hurt next year.

Pre-Covid, the "teacher shortage" was always trending upwards.   2020-21 scrambled the schools and the data.   Now most schools are operating in the new-normal phase, but teacher shortages are rampant everywhere.

The substitute teacher pool was always shallow, now is far worse.  At my wife's school, it's a daily juggling act of being down 1-2-3+ sub positions, which means the principal, assistant principal .. librarian .. gym teacher .. art teacher .. they're all drafted into covering classes.  Another tool is to take a class without a teacher, split the kids up and pack them into other rooms for the day.

It's nuts. 

Only 2.5 months into the year, the stresses are high.  During virtual learning, kids got a fraction of regular learning, and their behavior and social skills regressed.   You always had a couple kids who couldn't sit still, now you have 3x that.   

I can't go two days without my wife saying she wonders if CostCo is hiring.  I asked her if that was common at her school, she thought that it was likely every single teacher in the building had thoughts of wanting a new job.  And this is a solid suburban district.

I happened along this subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/ .. it's shocking.  (Understood it's a self-selected reddit group, often of people who want to vent.)   It's a high volume sub .. the common theme is desperation, and every ~third post is about quitting.

I very much wonder if the "great resignation" will come crashing down on schools when the academic year ends.   I'm not saying they're all quitting, but even 10% is likely a catastrophe.

If Arby's doesn't have the staff, they can just close for the shift.  And they can increase wages ($15/hr at my local spot if anyone is wondering).  Schools can roughly do neither.

(OK, they could increase wages, but that has been resisted by political factions forever, so good luck on that.)

[warriorchick]

In Las Vegas, they are bringing people in from the Philippines and givibg them crash courses to get their teaching certificates.

[statnik]

What speculation leading to misinformation?   Unvaccinated person spread COVID to other unvaccinated people.    And all it took was a moment of not following protocols.    How in holy f@ck is this still a surprise or leading to misinformation or speculation?     

Delta is going to spread through the unvaccinated.   If unvaccinated, the best prevention is masks and social distancing

This is 1+1=2.

I know this is old news, but it’s more about the quality of the mask, not failing to follow guidelines for a short time.  Study after study has suggested repeated exposure for a lengthy period of time is what makes the difference, so money is on her and the children’s masks being ineffective.

[tower912]

I think schools are in for a world of hurt next year.

Pre-Covid, the "teacher shortage" was always trending upwards.   2020-21 scrambled the schools and the data.   Now most schools are operating in the new-normal phase, but teacher shortages are rampant everywhere.

The substitute teacher pool was always shallow, now is far worse.  At my wife's school, it's a daily juggling act of being down 1-2-3+ sub positions, which means the principal, assistant principal .. librarian .. gym teacher .. art teacher .. they're all drafted into covering classes.  Another tool is to take a class without a teacher, split the kids up and pack them into other rooms for the day.

It's nuts. 

Only 2.5 months into the year, the stresses are high.  During virtual learning, kids got a fraction of regular learning, and their behavior and social skills regressed.   You always had a couple kids who couldn't sit still, now you have 3x that.   

I can't go two days without my wife saying she wonders if CostCo is hiring.  I asked her if that was common at her school, she thought that it was likely every single teacher in the building had thoughts of wanting a new job.  And this is a solid suburban district.

I happened along this subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/ .. it's shocking.  (Understood it's a self-selected reddit group, often of people who want to vent.)   It's a high volume sub .. the common theme is desperation, and every ~third post is about quitting.

I very much wonder if the "great resignation" will come crashing down on schools when the academic year ends.   I'm not saying they're all quitting, but even 10% is likely a catastrophe.

If Arby's doesn't have the staff, they can just close for the shift.  And they can increase wages ($15/hr at my local spot if anyone is wondering).  Schools can roughly do neither.

(OK, they could increase wages, but that has been resisted by political factions forever, so good luck on that.)

Seeing the first hints of it around here already.  School districts are closing down for a week because of teacher infections and no subs available.
You are not wrong about the long term prognosis.    Decades of tearing down teachers has led to fewer people wanting to teach.  Weird, right?

[mu_hilltopper]

Coincidentally seeing this now .. brutal stats.

https://www.axios.com/teacher-burnout-fatigue-pandemic-covid-schools-75df52ab-720c-470f-ac9b-426514e0452a.html

By the numbers: Nearly one in four teachers said they were likely to leave their jobs at the end of last school year, compared with one in six teachers who said the same, on average, before the pandemic, according to a report by the RAND Corporation from March 2021.

Nearly half of Black teachers said they were likely to leave their jobs at the end of the school year, RAND found.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

I know this is completely anecdotal, but I know multiple teachers who have (or will be) retiring or leaving their jobs much earlier than they had planned.  Good friend of ours, a math teacher, retired at 57 and joined a local CPA firm.  Full time from January 1 through April 15.  The rest of the year about 10 hours a week.  All fully remote if she wants.  Between retirement income and her wages, she has increased her income by about a third.  The pandemic was the cherry on top of the standardized testing and Act 10 sundae.

And admission into teacher education programs has been decreasing for years.  Some of that wasn't a problem because there was a surplus of teachers for many years prior, but now that the pandemic is accelerating retirements and career-switching, it's really becoming an issue.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

My wife has been saying recently she wishes she could retire from teaching.  She loves her job, but COVID pushed everything over the edge.  It's mostly the students, as the kids are completely disrespectful now.  The social skills aren't as good and too focused on how they appear on social media.  A large number don't want to work and then the same students and parents harass her with BS excuses to increase their grade for no reason.  Of course these things happened previously, but it was more the exception than the rule.